


The Story of Bear and His Tail

by MiracleMuse8



Category: Original Work
Genre: Original Folktale, School Assignment
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-25
Updated: 2018-02-25
Packaged: 2019-03-23 22:35:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,150
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13797759
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MiracleMuse8/pseuds/MiracleMuse8
Summary: An original folktale I wrote for a school assignment. Enjoy!





	The Story of Bear and His Tail

Once, in a magical forest, there lived a Bear. Each and every day, Bear would take his basket and gather a large amount of ripe berries, fresh-caught fish, and golden honey. Afterwards, he would take the food home and hoard it within a hollow in the cave wall. Although he had more than enough food, as he rarely ate, he was a greed-filled Bear and did not wish to share it with any other animal.

One icy winter day, Squirrel had the misfortune to run out of food. He was famished, and wondered if his friends had any food to share. Rabbit was the first person who came to mind, so Squirrel set off on a walk to Rabbit’s house. On his way, he happened to pass by Bear’s cave. Forgetting Rabbit and remembering Bear’s great stores of food, Squirrel stopped by the cave and knocked on Bear’s door.

Bear opened the door and poked his head out of the cave, irately asking what Squirrel was doing here. As politely as he could, Squirrel responded that he was hungry and looking for food. Due to Bear’s cold heart and severe avarice, he had no desire to give Squirrel any of what he wanted. Instead, he ate Squirrel, from his head to his short little legs. He tried eating the tail, but soon gave up as the fur from it got stuck between his teeth. Instead, he left his tail on the floor of the cave, underneath the rug. Then he continued on with his day, as if Squirrel had never existed at all.

A few days passed, and after those few days, Deer made the decision to invite Squirrel over for a tea party, as Squirrel was notoriously fond of parties. When the day of the party came around, Squirrel was nowhere to be seen. Wondering where Squirrel could possibly be, Deer made her way to his tree hollow. As she walked, she passed by Bear’s cave. Fortunately for her, it was empty, as Bear was out to gather food. Spotting a furry object poking out of his rug, she bent over to take a closer look. It was none other than Squirrel’s tail itself!

In a flash of anger, Deer realized what happened to Squirrel. Desperate for justice, she went to Owl’s nest, situated high up in an old oak tree. As Owl was the judge of the forest, Deer told him the story of Bear and Squirrel. Owl found Deer’s plight quite alarming, and together they devised a cunning plan.

The next day, Owl placed a basket full of a veritable variety of ripe, juicy berries in the middle of a large clearing. He then hid in a tree near the clearing, and instructed the other animals to hide in the bushes. Soon, Bear noticed the scent of berries coming from the clearing. He decided to take a look, and so wandered into the clearing.

The very moment he walked in, all the animals advanced from their hiding places, staring at him with ire. It quickly dawned on him that he was caught. He tried to back away into the forest, but the other animals blocked his path. Soon he was surrounded. Owl flew down from his perch. He struck a mallet against a nearby tree, signaling the beginning of the trial.

Deer served as witness, once again telling Squirrel’s story. The moment she finished, nearly every animal in the forest shed tears of sorrow, nearly enough to form a pond. All save for Bear, that is.

“Why do you not weep?” inquired Owl menacingly.

“I am dreadfully sorry,” Bear replied. “My neighbor informed me of the news this morning, and it was so utterly frightful I wept like the rain. My eyes have simply run out of tears.”

Owl took his mallet and with it struck Bear on his paw. Bear yelped, his eyes filling up with tears. As he began to realize what just took place, he attempted in vain to end his crying. It was too late, though. Once again, the animals collectively glared at him.

Bear was, immediately and without question, declared guilty. As punishment, he was imprisoned in a wooden cage that was carried out to the edge of the forest. There he lived for a good while, alone and in fear of hunters.

Alas, the wood of the cage was weak and decayed easily. After a week, it had rotted away completely, and Bear was free at last. Enraged, he sprinted back into the forest, making a mad dash for Deer’s cabin.

Fortunately, Deer had heard the thunderous sounds of Bear approaching and escaped through her back door. Bear chased her all throughout the forest, through the clearings and over the brooks. Though Deer was swift like lightning, she soon began to tire.

At last the pair reached Owl’s nest. As it was the nighttime, Owl was wide awake and alert. He looked down and saw the ordeal with his all-seeing eyes. He came up with a plan and quickly put it into action.

Owl flew down from his nest, diving towards Bear and clawing him with his talons. He hooted as he did so, alerting the other forest birds. Soon every bird in the forest was attacking Bear, driving him away from Deer and out of the forest. The birds kept Bear distracted throughout the night.

During that time, the other animals managed to build a stronger, sturdier cage out of entire trunks of oak. Again they carted it off to outside the forest, where Bear was fighting the birds. Bear was caged once more, this time unable to escape.

Along came a hunter, looking for convenient prey. Seeing Bear, the hunter delighted in his luck and strode further towards him. He aimed his bow, intending to shoot. Bear clawed and pounded at the bars of his cage, but it was no use.

A thought came to Bear. None of what had happened would be happening if he weren’t so greedy. Howling at the top of his mighty lungs, he begged for mercy, promising that he would share every last bite of his food if he were released from his oaken prison.

Owl happened to fly overhead, taking the scene in and hearing Bear’s cries. Although skeptical at first, he soon realized that Bear was sincere, and in grave danger. Furthermore, he believed in redemption, and would never let another animal be killed by a hunter.

He hooted again, and the forest birds descended upon the hunter like a feathered cloud. Like Bear before him, the hunter was soon chased away, never to return. Owl broke the cage’s lock with his mighty talons, allowing Bear to flee.

During the escape, Bear’s long, bushy tail got caught between the bars of the cage, breaking off when he ran. That is the reason that, to this day, all bears have stubby, round tails.


End file.
